Where's Suhakam report, new commissioners? - human rights groups

International human rights groups are demanding answers as to why the Human Rights Commission’s (Suhakam) 2021 annual report has yet to be tabled in Parliament.

In a joint statement today, the groups also questioned how Suhakam has been operating without commissioners for more than a month following the expiry of the former cohort’s term.

Section 21(1) of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 states that Suhakam’s annual report must be submitted to Parliament no later than the first meeting of Parliament of the following year.

As such, the 2021 report should have been tabled during the session which ended on March 24.

“The failure of Suhakam to follow the provisions of its own founding act is worrying and raises concerns about how Suhakam is operating and fulfilling its mandate.

“The government of Malaysia should also be held accountable for the delay in the release of the reports as it ought to be assisting Suhakam in offering time and space for the report to be tabled and subsequently debated in the Parliament,” the groups said.

They said the fact that new commissioners have not been appointed for more than a month has seriously impacted Suhakam’s ability to defend human rights in Malaysia.

In April, five commissioners appointed in 2016 under the Najib Abdul Razak administration completed two terms, the maximum number of terms they are allowed to serve.

Suhakam members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the recommendation of the prime minister in consultation with an appointment committee chaired by the chief secretary of the government.

“All these recent developments hint at an increasingly strained relationship between Suhakam and the government, which may serve as one of the reasons for the delay of the Annual Reports,” they said.

The groups said the current government had had a more “confrontational and unsupportive” relationship with Suhakam compared to the Pakatan Harapan government.

This included executive members and religious government agencies criticising Suhakam for its social media call-out for researchers to study the feasibility of recognising the third gender in Malaysia through legislation.

The government has also “paid little attention” to Suhakam’s role in advising on human rights issues and has ignored Suhakam’s recommendations, including for greater police accountability.

This was evident in the hastily-tabled Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) bill, the statement said.

“We, therefore, urge the government of Malaysia and Suhakam to provide an explanation of the delay and ensure both the 2020 and 2021 Annual Reports are tabled and debated in the Parliament as soon as possible,” they said.

The groups are:

1. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia);

2. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Malaysia;

3. Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), South Korea;

4. People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF), Thailand;

5. Bytes for All, Pakistan;

6. Progressive Voice, Myanmar;

7. Law and Society Trust (LST), Sri Lanka;

8. Odhikar, Bangladesh;

9. Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (Poda), Pakistan;

10. All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI), India; and

11. Joint Action for NHRI and Optional Protocols in Japan (Janop), Japan - Mkini